People began showering to wash their bodies long before the introduction of modern or even early plumbing. Individuals would utilize natural geological formations in the form of waterfalls to rinse themselves clean. As a substitute ancient peoples reproduced this natural phenomenon by pouring jugs of water over themselves after washing. The first people to have constructed showers were the ancient Greeks. Their aqueducts and sewage systems, made of lead pipes, allowed water to be pumped both into and out of large communal shower rooms. The ancient Romans followed this convention with their famous bathhouses. Bathing fell out of practice once the Greek and Roman empires collapsed, and similar systems were not constructed until the latter part of the 19th century. Since that time, showers have become a popular inclusion as part of regular personal hygiene and are found in almost every home today.
Showers are either integrated with a bathtub or they are provided as standalone or built-in enclosures. Because of the spraying of water inherent in the use of a shower, there needs to be some means of retaining the water spray within the shower area. One known method of retaining the spray is by surrounding the shower area with a curtain, usually made from vinyl, cloth, or plastic. The purpose of the shower curtain is to both provide privacy for the individual showering and to prevent water from flooding or spraying outside of the shower area. Shower curtains usually surround the bath inside the tub or shower area, and they are supported by rails, or rods, mounted to the ceiling or supported between opposing bathroom walls.
Alternatively, instead of a curtain, shower doors may be installed to provide the same function as the shower curtain. Shower doors are doors used in bathrooms to help keep water inside a shower enclosure or a bathtub, and they are used as alternatives to shower curtains. Shower doors are available in many different styles such as framed or frameless doors, and the doors can be sliding doors or hinged doors that swing. Since shower doors are exposed to considerable moisture, corrosion can become a problem, thus shower doors are usually constructed of aluminum, and have clear glass, acrylic or tempered glass panels. Shower doors can come in many different hardware finishes and glass patterns that can match other bathroom hardware, such as the faucets and shower heads.
While shower curtains are relatively easy to install, and especially so with spring loaded compression rods extending between and supported by opposing walls, a shower door assembly is usually of a more permanent installation. A shower door installation typically requires the mounting of channels and frames to both walls and to the top rim of either a bathtub or a shower pan. However, there is a lack of shower door assemblies that are easy to install, can be easily removed and do not require the permanent mounting of components of the shower door assembly to walls, and other permanent bathroom structures.
Therefore, there is a long felt, but as of yet unmet, need for a shower door and railing assembly that can be installed as easily as a shower curtain, and that is readily removable.